CA Choir Director David Moellenkamp inspires students

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David Moellenkamp, Director of Choral Activities at Los Alamitos High School in California, inspires his students to excel in the performing arts. Photo Credit: David Mellenkamp

All over the country, our young people are fortunate to have access to talented and dedicated performing arts teachers. One of these is David Moellenkamp, the Director of Choral Activities at Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California.

During his 14 years at the school, David’s choir groups have been named Grand Champions over 175 times, and they have garnered no less than 12 National Grand Championship titles. Prior to coming to Los Alamitos, David spent the first 16 years of his teaching career in central Illinois. There he led the Sullivan Singers Show Choir program to over 100 first place wins, including four National Championships.

David’s choirs have recorded and performed with numerous famous artists, including Barry Manilow, Patti Lupone, and Foreigner. In 2013, he collaborated with the Los Alamitos Education Foundation to produce and direct the Xcite! Show Choir Camps.

In addition to directing school choirs, David spent 14 summers directing and choreographing students at Stagedoor Manor, a well-known performing arts training center in New York. As a result of his work there, more than 100 of his former students have performed on Broadway, appeared on network television, or starred in major motion pictures. David has also spent 14 summers presenting workshops at the Arizona and Missouri Music Educators All State Conventions, and he is a show choir adjudicator and clinician for festivals and schools around the world. And as if all that were not enough, he also teaches Music Education classes at Cal State Long Beach.

Throughout his 31-year career as an educator, David has earned many accolades. Playbill, the iconic Broadway magazine, named him one of the most influential educators inspiring Broadway’s youth. He was named the Kennedy Center Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher of the Year. In 2018, he received the Excellence in Special Education from SELPA. Also, the Fame National Show Choir Series awarded him their Aspire Choir Director of the Year in both 2015 and 2017. Also in 2017, he was named the Teacher of the Year for Los Alamitos School District. In addition, David was a finalist for the 2016 Grammy Teacher of the Year, and in 2015, he was named the Orange County Department of Education Outstanding Secondary Music Educator of the Year.

David earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and his Master’s degree in Administration from National University.

Oregon’s Gwen Bartlett earns 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year award

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High school social studies teacher Gwen Bartlett has earned a 2023 Oregon Regional Teacher of the Year award. Photo Credit: The News Review

There are many excellent educators that work in our nation’s schools. One of these is Gwen Bartlett, a high school social studies teacher from Oregon. She has been named a 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year.

Gwen, who first considered a career in journalism, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon. After her college graduation, she took a job at a public relations and marketing company. But after doing volunteer work with young people during the summer, she became interested in a career as a teacher. So she went back to school, earning a Master’s degree in Education from Portland State University.

Gwen launched her career as an educator in 1998 when she accepted a position as a social studies teacher at Roseburg High School in Roseburg, Oregon. She still works there today. She currently teaches US History and Advanced Placement US History. She says she strives to make her classroom a safe space for dialogue and discussion, she attempts to make the past relevant to students today.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Gwen has also been her school’s Head Track and Field Coach for six years. Gwen says that track was an important part of her high school and college experiences, and it’s important to her to share that with her students.

The Oregon Regional Teacher of the Year awards honor exemplary educators in every region of the state. Candidates are recognized as being exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled public school educators in grades Pre-K through 12. A total of 16 teachers have been selected from across the state of Oregon to receive the honor. In addition to the recognition, Gwen received a $1,000 cash prize.

To read more about Gwen Bartlett, click on this link to an article about her published by the Douglas Education Service District.

NJ teacher Donald Payne elected to the US House of Representatives

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Former New Jersey teacher Donald Payne was elected to the US House Representatives. Photo Credit :Public Domain

In American history, there are many examples of successful educators who later became noteworthy politicians. One of these is Donald Payne, a former teacher who was elected as the first African American to represent New Jersey in the US House of Representatives.

Donald Milford Payne, Sr., was born in Newark, New Jersey, on July 16, 1934. Following his graduation from Newark’s Barringer High School in 1952, Donald enrolled on a scholarship in Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies in 1957. Later he pursued post-graduate studies at Springfield College in Massachusetts.

After his college graduation, Donald taught English and Social Studies in Newark Public Schools. He also coached football. While still a teacher, Donald became the first African American president of the National Council of the YMCA. From 1973 to 1981, he served as the Chairman of the World YMCA Refugee and Rehabilitation Committee.

After leaving the classroom, Donald worked for a time as an executive for the Prudential Insurance Company. He also served three terms as a Municipal City Councilman, but he had always wanted to become a Congressman. In 1988 he finally achieved that goal when he was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent New Jersey’s Tenth District. “I want to be a congressman to serve as a model for the young people I talk to on the Newark street corners,” Donald said during his campaign. “I want them to see there are no barriers to achievement. I want to give them a reason to try.”

While in Congress, the former teacher served on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, including the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. In addition, he was a part of the Committee on Government Operations and on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, including the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health and the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. From 1995 to 1997, he was the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was elected to Congress a total of eleven times, and some of his wins were by the widest margins in New Jersey history.

In his later years, Donald suffered from diabetes and he experienced several small strokes, but it was colon cancer that finally claimed his life on March 6, 2012. He was 77 years old. Donald Payne: A true Chalkboard Champion.

Author Terry Lee Marzell published in second Inlandia anthology

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For the second year in a row, author Terry Lee Marzell has been included in an anthology published by The Inlandia Institute. Two of her nonfiction pieces have been included in the collection. Photo Credit: Hal Marzell

For the second year in a row, Terry Lee Marzell, author of Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes, announces that two of her short pieces have been included in an anthology published by The Inlandia Institute. The anthology, entitled 2021 Writing from Inlandia, was just released in November, 2022. Terry is among some 61 contributors to the collection, which features poetry, nonfiction, and fiction selections.

The first piece, “A Sewing Machine,” explores Terry’s personal recollections with the lost art of sewing, including how her mother sewed her clothes when she was an elementary school student, and how she sewed her own wardrobe as a high school student. The second piece, “My Introduction to French Cuisine,” also nonfiction, describes a dish that Terry sampled while on a tour of France, and then how she tried to re-create it when she returned home.

Inlandia is a regional literary nonprofit and publishing house. The mission of the organization is to recognize, support, and expand literary activity in all of its forms in the Inland Empire of Southern California. The group is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and in part by the California Arts Council. To learn more about the Inlandia Institute, you can visit the website at www.InlandiaInstitute.org.